Teaware for cool teas only?

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debunix
Posts: 1812
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:27 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:36 am

I was looking at a listing for a gorgeous glass tea cup on eBay yesterday. The listing states that there should only be used with cool or cold tea. And that got me thinking: even in the summertime, when I brew up some sencha or gyokuro, I always want to get every bit of goodness that the leaves have, and even when I start my infusions quite cool, I keep increasing the temperature until I’m doing a final infusion with water just off the boil. This would obviously not be the use envisaged for an item that is sold for cool use only.

I’m assuming there’s a Japanese tea drinking tradition that makes sense of such items. Would it be usual to prepare only one infusion at a cooler temperature for a longer time with less tea (rather like when I do my cold infusions for sparkling Sencha)? Or to drink several infusions done over gradually increasing time at strictly cool temperatures? Or would you simply use a “normal” amount of tea and a single infusion with lukewarm water and stop there?

On chilly mornings like today, I may use a delicate piece of Hagi ware, but As I increase the temperature of my infusions, I try to be aware of the temperature of the cup before I pour in another infusion. If I’m stacking them close together, I just make sure it doesn’t have a chance to cool down much. If I have let things cool down too much between infusions at the hotter temperatures, I pour hot water over it first to warm it up. And my Biwa cup seems to be doing fine with today’s Forest glow sencha from Obubu.
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Quentin
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:27 pm
Location: Minnesota, USA (Twin Cities)

Mon Dec 20, 2021 8:13 am

I didn’t notice this when it was posted, but there are definitely some cold-brewing traditions in Japan; mostly because the summers can get so uncomfortable.

Mizudashi (水出し) & Kōridashi (氷出し) are the two brewing styles that come to mind. Mizudashi being longer cold infusions (like coffee), and Kōridashi being leaves infused in ice as it melts. Both of these methods of making tea are generally single infusion since the ratios are usually closer to western style brewing.

As far as I know, there aren’t any traditional pieces of tea-ware that are strictly for these cold “brews”, but that’s not to say there aren’t any. Certainly there are summer appropriate pieces, but my best guess is that the glass bowl in the eBay posting is simply sensitive to temperature shock, or could be thin and hard to hold with hot water?
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